GNLF holds bonbo festival in Darjeeling chowrastha

It
has taken the Gorkha National Liberation Front more than a decade to
restore the Bonbo (nature worshippers) festival in Darjeeling Chowrastha, a legacy which many in
the hills believe was a diktat started by Subash Ghisingh to make the
case for including the Darjeeling hills in the Sixth Schedule.

Before signing the Memorandum of
Agreement in 2005, the GNLF chief had asked the hill people to start
nature worship and encouraged 'jhakris' (shamans and witch doctors) to
hold bonbo worship. Ghisingh contented that all Gorkha tribes follow the
same culture and religious beliefs and come under bonbo worshippers, or
people who worship nature including stones, rivers and trees.
In 2002, Ghisingh organised the first
Bonbo National Tourist Festival at Chowrastha in Darjeeling but it was
discontinued from 2005, apparently not feeling the need for such a show
as a MoA on the issue was signed on December 6, 2005.
Today, the women’s wing of the GNLF
organised the festival under the banner of the Gorkha Rasthriya Janjati
Bonbo Mahotsav at Chowrastha that began by a cultural rally from the
railway station in the morning. “We are celebrating the festival after
11 years, the last time was in 2005. The message is to state that we
Gorkhas are tribals and nature worshippers. In fact, as per the 1931
census, the British had put us under the hill tribe status,” said
Manjila Tamang, president of the Gorkha National Women Organisation.
Advocates of the festival say the
jhakris retire into caves at the start of the monsoon season and come
out on Guru Purnima day, which fell today. On this day, 'pitri'
(forefathers) puja is also offered for the well-being of departed
souls. Shamans and witch doctors from across the hills participated in
today’s bonbo festival and were an elated lot. “It is important to
preserve our culture and traditions.
And this festival gives just that
impetus. After the festival was stopped for whatever reasons, we
(shamans) observed it in our own places of worship,” said Ruben Thakuri,
a shaman from Rishihat.
Another jhakri from Darjeeling praised Ghisingh for taking the initiative to start such an event.
“The bonbo celebrations during
Ghisingh’s time used to be massive. We used to converge here
(Chowrastha) from all over the region from early morning. We were
appreciated by the people and officials.
I felt sad when the bonbo festival was
stopped but now that it has re-started, I will definitely participate
every year,” said 66-year-old Lal Bahadur Thami of Kakjhora.
M.G. Subba, the GNLF’s Darjeeling branch
committee chief convener, said, “He (Ghisingh) had given a lot of
thought before starting the bonbo festival. The event was based on the
Sixth Schedule demand our party president had taken up with the central
government. Since our demand remains for including the hills under the
Sixth Schedule, we will continue holding the bonbo festival in the
coming years." (EOIC)

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It has taken the Gorkha National Liberation Front more than a decade to restore the Bonbo (nature worshippers) festival in Darjeeling Chowrastha, a legacy which many in the hills believe was a diktat started by Subash Ghisingh to make the case for including the Darjeeling hills in the Sixth Schedule.